Chalabi: Baath party must be uprooted

A prominent opponent of Saddam Hussein said yesterday that he would send a representative to a meeting in Nasiriyah tomorrow of Iraqi opposition leaders with the US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, but would not attend in person.

Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress and a long-time exile who returned to Iraq just before the US invasion, told the BBC that he was not seeking a leadership position. "I am not a candidate for any political position in Iraq. My main focus is to work toward the restoration of civil society in Iraq. It is not about me, it is about freedom and liberation."

Mr Chalabi saidIraqi opposition leaders must be given an important role in an interim government. "They represent political forces on the ground which are very important and which can make an important contribution to peace and security in Iraq," he said.

Mr Chalabi stressed that the Baath party must be dismantled. He said: "We must uproot the Baath party from the fabric of Iraqi society.This does not mean killing, torturing or in any way demeaning individual Baathists.

"But they must come forward, show what they have, deliver what they have of government property. It means the destruction completely of the Baath party organisation."

Mr Chalabi said Iraqi opposition leaders had to be given an important role in an interim government. "They represent political forces on the ground which are very important and which can make an important contribution to peace and security in Iraq," he said.

Civil order needed to be restored quickly, he said. "Saddam Hussein destroyed civil society in Iraq. After 35 years of repression, people are angry and this looting is somewhat expected, but it must be stopped immediately."